My Soul to Take

On the night that the Riverton Ripper was killed, seven children were born. Sixteen years later, on their collective birthday, the Riverton 7 are stalked by an unseen killer. Has the Riverton Ripper come back from the dead? Or has one of the Riverton 7 become possessed by the killer’s soul? My Soul to Take should have been an easy layup for Wes Craven. It’s a supernatural slasher that borrows from several of his previous films. There are elements from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Shocker in it. And yet, the film is a bit of a mixed bag. The main problem is the script. Seven characters are too many for the movie to follow. Only four of the Riverton 7 get a decent amount of screen time. The remaining kids, along with the rest of the side characters, float in and out of the movie. Mostly showing up just in time to be killed off. At various points, the script also tries to tackle a couple of serious issues but never takes the time to fully develop them. And the ending feels both unearned and like it could have been replaced by any number of alternate outcomes.

Rating: 61%

(Image from Wikipedia)